Gosh. Maybe we should tell all the people with thyroid deficiency, or progesterone deficiency, etc. that they don’t really need their medication. What they need is going to be naturally produced. I wish that were the case.

He goes on by stating: “Melatonin is a sleep and body clock regulator – NOT a sleep initiator. Melatonin works with your biological clock by telling your brain when it is time to sleep. Melatonin does not increase your sleep drive or need for sleep.”

Now, Dr. Breus says not to give melatonin to children. He says it may cause a number of things, including nightmares. I think I will quote this abstract in full, because I really can’t say it better myself.

“Melatonin is beneficial not only in the treatment of dyssomnias, especially delayed sleep phase syndrome, but also on sleep disorders present in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity, autism spectrum disorders, and, in general, in all sleep disturbances associated with mental, neurologic, or other medical disorders. Sedative properties of melatonin have been used in diagnostic situations requiring sedation or as a premedicant in children undergoing anesthetic procedures. Epilepsy and febrile seizures are also susceptible to treatment with melatonin, alone or associated with conventional antiepileptic drugs. Melatonin has been also used to prevent the progression in some cases of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. In newborns, and particularly those delivered preterm, melatonin has been used to reduce oxidative stress associated with sepsis, asphyxia, respiratory distress, or surgical stress. Finally, the administration of melatonin, melatonin analogues, or melatonin precursors to the infants through the breast-feeding, or by milk formula adapted for day and night, improves their nocturnal sleep. Side effects of melatonin treatments in children have not been reported (bold mine)” Here’s the abstract, which leads to a free article from the International Journal of Pediatrics published last year.

Dr. Beus apprears to be wrong about melatonin’s effect, dosage, and its use in children. I can only hope that the wide dissemination of his information does not completely derail the use of melatonin, making patients far more likely to take the new drug versions of melatonin. Hopefully people read the whole of his article, which adds: ” Tart cherries contain a natural melatonin, and there is research to show that drinking tart cherry juice can help with insomnia.” So melatonin does help with insomnia, at least when it’s part of cherry juice.